Page 5 of Master's Rise
“McCabe. He’s Nomad from Ohio.” I let it hang. I want more information without having to ask.
Raid picks it up. “Lieutenant at the Sheriff’s. Trained by Badass then military. He came up like us. Parents moved here for the climate but they’re getting on, so he came down to keep watch.”
I like that. “Sounds like a good fit.”
“Paperwork is on your desk.”
I shake my head. “How do I have more paperwork with less Brothers?” We have almost forty with the Officers. That’s more than two hundred less than we had in the city.
Hade laughs. “You want to know everyone coming in, you need the paperwork. It’s all on the computer so it’s not even paper. We got twice as many businesses running than we had in the city. Rex wants you to talk to the hardware store lady too. It may go up for sale.”
Just what I need, another fucking business. “Why is he doing word of the day again?”
“Who knows,” Hade says at the same time Raid says, “Yesterday was haberdashery like the store. He’s happy again.”
I guess he is. I am too. “We need a bigger building with room for offices and the Brothers. The hardware store will have to wait until the end of the week or maybe next week.” I got Brothers waiting to get in. I need to deal with that first. The Officers are doing all jobs. Without membership numbers, we’re short on Officers to deal the way we did in the city. Almost members don’t help my Club.
With the midget show, we won’t have much time. We need Enforcers, Brothers at businesses, a stable center and a presence in town. They’ll show again and it won’t be just the midget brigade. We trained their Enforcers and know what they’re capable of. Since the best Enforcers are here, I’m not too concerned, but I’d be a fool not to be prepared.
~*~*~
After training, I walk in my office and groan. “There’s no paper he said. What the hell is all this?”
Holding the button on my desk phone, I yell, “Web!”
After he falls out of his chair, I hear him running. “Yeah, Boss.”
“What the fuck?” I point at the stack of files and his hands go out in front of him as if he’s trying to calm me down. Of course, it pisses me off.
“Leave him be. You wanted a bigger building. Those are all within a twenty-mile radius. We can decide what we want to look at without the sleazy realtor. That guy is a piece of work. I had to go confiscate the files from his office. He thinks bikers don’t know about computers,” Raid says pulling the files from my desk and moving them to the table. Great. He got past their Security but doesn’t know we can do this on the computer. Fucking Brothers make me smile.
Web laughs. “You can look at them all online.”
Raid nods. “I wanted more than a picture and price.”
“Give me a minute. I’ll pull them up for you.” Web is out the door and I’m relieved. This stack is too much to look through. Web can get us a more reasonable list.
“You going to the bar or Club after this?”
I’ve been there almost every night but decided to deal with Brothers waiting to get in and how I live tonight. Not wanting to miss time with my Brothers, I’ve let shit slide. “I need to deal with my house and make some decisions about the Club.”
“I can help with the house. What do you need for the Club?”
I missed that. “How many Enforcers we can afford full-time. We need HR up and running but Amos is still in Colorado with Falcon and Banks. I got a list of Nomads and Prospects that want in and need jobs. Since Falcon is gone and we need help, I’ve got to get this done.”
“Web went through backgrounds with his team. You got who he approved. You can’t decide Enforcers until Hade gives you their training. I’ll get with him and bring it with me. We can do it tonight. The Brothers that aren’t working Security will be easy. He separated the Brothers that don’t need jobs. Falcon had Web hold them until we get the rest straight. What do you need for the Prospects?”
I shrug. “Just a good fit for the businesses, same as the Brothers. I’m never running a fucking store again. People are nuts, but drunks are worse than insane. The print shops are just as bad. Some asshole pitched a fit over printed teacups or some shit. How it got to be my problem is the problem.”
He’s laughing when Web comes in with his laptop and starts typing. “Laugh it up, they’re your problem now. We need Prospects to fit in and Brothers running this shit so I never have to hear about teacups or drunks pissing in the coolers again.”
Web starts laughing as the big screen goes on. “Falcon left a questionnaire for jobs. Everyone has experience and preferences listed.” That will make it easier. “What are we looking for?”
A center with everyone close by but out of the way and shielded. We need a heart. “Big enough to house everything in one building, the closer the better.”
“You got over a hundred apps that are good. I have maybe fifty left to run backgrounds. The town has twenty-three empty houses, the empty old folks’ home and fourteen rooms at the Club. Are Brothers living in the building?”
Jesus, the city was easy. “What’s out there? We can decide when we find it. I hope Banks can find a way to swing this.”
